A faint air of awkwardness drifted among the four of them.
In the end, Mo Qi could no longer bear the three pairs of eyes on her. She apologized timidly, "Sorry, I really didn't do it on purpose."
Su Jiu shook her head. She was no fool. Back when they were inside Swallowing Heaven, she had been too busy to notice the change in Mo Qi, but how could she fail to see it now? Her voice remained cool. "If you don't like the salve, forget it."
Mo Qi's heart lurched. They were all intelligent people. How could she miss what Su Jiu meant?
Whether it was the salve she disliked or the person, only she herself knew best.
At that moment, Mo Qi finally panicked. She clutched Su Jiu's sleeve, anxiety creeping into her voice. "A Jiu, I really didn't do it on purpose."
Su Jiu gently closed her eyes. Her voice was neither loud nor soft, only calm and even. "When did it start? Why?"
The others did not understand Su Jiu's two questions, but Mo Qi did.
She knew Su Jiu wanted to ask when she had begun harboring other feelings toward her, and why.
Mo Qi gritted her teeth. "I think someone planted a heart demon seed in me while I was waiting for you on the mountain."
A sharp glint flashed through Su Jiu's eyes. No wonder no one had noticed anything wrong with her. Demonic qi could be detected with spiritual qi, but a heart demon could not. A heart demon seed would draw out the deepest desires of the person it was planted in.
Yet wasn't a heart demon another, darker version of oneself?
Su Jiu's gaze dimmed. Forget it, she thought. Some bonds truly could not be forced.
But she had to